Ed Asner, seven-time Emmy winner, TV's beloved Lou Grant and star of 'Up,' dies at 91
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Edward Asner, known to millions as gruff but lovable newsman Lou Grant, died Sunday at age 91.
His publicist, Charles Sherman, confirmed to USA TODAY that Asner died early Sunday morning at home, surrounded by his family.
"We are sorry to say that our beloved patriarch passed away this morning peacefully," read a tweet shared to Asner's official Twitter account. "Words cannot express the sadness we feel. With a kiss on your head - Goodnight dad. We love you."
Hard-drinking, tough-talking Grant, who originated on CBS' "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" and grew to headline on drama spinoff "Lou Grant," made Asner a household name. But he was much more than one indelible character.
Asner, a U.S. Army veteran, took on a broad range of roles over an acting career that spanned seven decades, playing burly cops and 5 o'clock-shadowed heavies in pre-"Mary" '60s dramas while endearing himself to younger generations who wouldn't know Lou Grant from Ted Baxter in 2003's "Elf" and 2009's "Up."
His seven Emmys, five for playing Grant on "Mary" and "Lou Grant," are a record for a male actor, and Asner was the first actor to win Emmys for playing the same character on both a comedy and drama series. He won his other two Emmys for playing harsh, unlikable characters on two historic miniseries, "Roots" and "Rich Man, Poor Man."
But if Asner, who compiled more than 400 screen credits, were only remembered as Lou Grant, that would be plenty.
The WJM news director was an immediate breakout in the "Moore" pilot episode. After conducting a job interview that would have today's HR professionals assessing lawsuit damages, Lou smiles at polite but plucky applicant Mary Richards (Moore) and says, "You know what? You've got spunk!"
As Mary smiles back and starts an aw-shucks response, Lou, turning dark, cuts her off: "I hate spunk!"
It was jarring misdirection and a rebuke to predictable TV tropes of that era, as was so much of Moore's groundbreaking sitcom. Most of all, it was hilarious.
Speaking fondly of Moore following her death in 2017, Asner parted ways with his TV alter ego. "She had spunk," he told USA TODAY. Did he hate that? "No. Not when she has it."
When "Mary" premiered in 1970, Asner had no idea how it would be revered 50 years later. However, he quickly realized it was something special. "As we began to work on it and shape it and round it, it became quite revealing to us that we were doing the Lord’s work," he said.
Over the course of the series' seven-season run, Asner's Lou revealed different shadings: impatience, anger and even physical violence with Ted, and sweetness and friendship with Mary, although he had a sexist streak notable even for its time.
A married dad at the start of the series, Lou went through estrangement and eventual divorce, with Asner masterfully depicting the pathos and humor of a man sucker-punched in mid-life. His fear and loathing of sometimes paramour Sue Ann Nivens (Betty White, now the show's last surviving cast member) was a comic delight and a solid-gold talent pairing, while his friendship with Mary, despite one awkward and quickly dismissed date, showed real character development. Lou had many faults, but there was always the chance for learning and redemption.
As Asner mourned Moore's death in 2017, he thanked her, professionally and personally. She "never missed an (opportunity) to advance us. She took good care of us," he says. "I loved her. The world loved her – and it should have. She was an inspiration to women and she was a good example as a human being."
Moore indeed took care of Asner as MTM Enterprises, the production company she founded with then-husband Grant Tinker, transplanted Lou from Minneapolis TV news director in a half-hour CBS sitcom to Los Angeles newspaper editor in a one-hour drama.
Asner pulled off the impressive feat of avoiding typecasting with his signature role, toning down Lou's drinking and temper – no more physically throwing Ted out of the studio! – while turning up his sobriety, literally and figuratively, and dedication to shoe-leather journalism in the post-Watergate era. The new version of Lou earned him two Emmys.
Earlier, before "Mary" ended its seven-season run, Asner showed his dramatic chops as angry immigrant father Axel Jordache in 1976's "Rich Man, Poor Man," the first blockbuster miniseries, and then as slave ship captain Thomas Davies in 1977's "Roots," a hugely popular ABC miniseries and cultural landmark that broke new ground in TV’s (and the country’s) conversation about race.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/celebrities/2021/08/29/emmy-winner-ed-asner-dies-lou-grant-elf-up/4138015001/